Quaker Queries About Peace and Social Justice

In the Quaker tradition, queries are questions meant for individual or group reflection. They aren’t intended to be rules or even questions that you must answer. They are intended for clarity and direction. We have selected a few queries on peace and social justice to share with you. These queries have also been added to the Resources page for easy access!

Peace Do you consistently practice the Christian principles of love and goodwill toward all men? Do you work actively for peace and for the removal of the causes of war? Do you observe the testimony of Friends against military training and service? Do you endeavor to make clear to all that you can influence, that war is inconsistent with the spirit and teachings of Jesus?

North Carolina Yearly Meeting – FUM. Faith and Practice, p. 54.

Social Conscience Are you concerned that our economic system so function sustain and enrich the life of all? Are you giving positive service to society in the promotion of peaceful methods of adjustment in all cases of social and industrial conflicts? Do you as workers, employers, producers, consumers, and investors endeavor to cultivate goodwill and mutual understanding in your economic relationships? Do you intelligently exercise all of your constitutional privileges and thus seek to promote Christian influence locally, nationally, and internationally?

North Carolina Yearly Meeting – FUM. Faith and Practice, p. 55.

Do you live ‘in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars’? Do you faithfully maintain our testimony that war and the preparation for war are inconsistent with the spirit of Christ?

Britain Yearly Meeting. Quaker Faith and Practice. 1.02.31

Do you bring into God’s light those emotions, attitudes and prejudices in yourself which lie at the root of destructive conflict, acknowledging your need for forgiveness and grace? In what ways are you involved in the work of reconciliation between individuals, groups and nations?

Britain Yearly Meeting. Quaker Faith and Practice. 1.02.32

Are you alert to practices here and throughout the world which discriminate against people on the basis of who or what they are or because of their beliefs? Are you working to bring about a just and compassionate society which allow everyone to develop their capacities and fosters the desire to serve?

Britain Yearly Meeting. Quaker Faith and Practice. 1.02.33

Peace 7. Do we endeavor to live in the life and power that takes away the occasion of all war, seeking to do our part in the work of reconciliation between individuals, groups, and nations? Do we faithfully maintain our testimony against nuclear and all other military preparations, the bearing of arms, and all participation in war?

North Carolina Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends – Conservative. Rules of Discipline

Social Justice and Equality 11. Do we reverence that of God in every human being with concern for the needs of each individual? Are we seeking to rectify existing social injustice and racial discrimination in our local communities and in the world at large?

North Carolina Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends – Conservative. Rules of Discipline

Manner of Living As I face differences of opinion and circumstances, do I seek for unity with the help of God? Do I constantly seek a greater understanding of the conciliatory power of love and how it may be exercised in my life?

What can I do to make my home a place where friendship, peace, and refreshment of spirit may be found? To what extent am I trying to do these things?

Are we concerned that man’s increasing power over nature should not be used irresponsibly, but with the reverence for life and with a sense of the splendor of God’s continuing creation?

North Carolina Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends – Conservative. Rules of Discipline